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Ime Udoka Rips Refs After Celtics vs. Bucks Game 3: I'll Teach My Guys to Flop More
May 7, 2022
Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka was unhappy with the officiating in the final seconds of Saturday's 103-101 playoff loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Udoka said he is going to "teach my guys to flop a little more" to get calls from the referees.
Udoka was also upset with the refs saying Marcus Smart wasn't in a shooting motion behind the three-point line when he was fouled by Jrue Holiday with the Celtics trailing 103-100 with 4.6 seconds remaining.
Udoka went on to say the officials told him they're "not going to call it" if players don't fall down on charge calls.
The final sequence for the Celtics was a bit of a mess. Holiday's jumper with 11.2 seconds remaining gave the Bucks a three-point lead.
Coming out of a timeout, Jaylen Brown took the inbounds pass and moved toward the basket like he was trying to find a driving lane. Holiday managed to stay in front of him, prompting Brown to move back out to the three-point line and hand the ball off to Smart.
George Hill was guarding Smart, but Brown set a screen, and Holiday switched onto Smart. As soon as Smart tried to go into a shooting motion, Holiday bodied him to prevent a shot attempt.
The officials determined the foul occurred before Smart got into a shooting motion. After hitting his free throw to cut the lead to two, Smart intentionally missed his second attempt. The Celtics had a chance to tie the game, but Al Horford's layup attempt after they got four offensive rebounds came right as the buzzer sounded.
The basket was waved off, giving the Bucks the win and a 2-1 series lead. There wasn't a huge disparity in fouls called.
In fact, the Bucks had six more fouls called against them than the Celtics (27-21). Boston made 11 more free throws (28) than Milwaukee attempted (17) in the game.
The primary issue for the Celtics, beyond the officiating, was the performance of Jayson Tatum. The three-time All-Star finished with 10 points on 4-of-19 shooting, and he missed all six of his three-point attempts.
Tatum's 10 points were tied for his second-fewest in a game this season. He scored at least 19 points in each of Boston's first seven postseason games.
The Celtics will attempt to even the series against Milwaukee in Game 4 on Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET.